Impact of migrant remittances on fertility and education in the source community: empirical evidence from India

This dissertation studies the impact of migrant remittances on two measures of human development- fertility and education. Remittances help recipient households to earn extra income and increase their standards of living over time. If by augmenting household income, remittances lead to an increase in the number of children in the household, the long term development impact of remittances will be undermined. Comparatively, if remittance incomes allow households to spend more on the education of each child in the household, it will be better for the migrant-sending household in terms of long term development. The two essays in this dissertation attempt to evaluate the impact of remittances on fertility and the impact of remittances on education expenditures made by remittance receiving households, and compare these outcomes with households that do not receive remittances. The dataset used for this analysis is the 64th Round of National Sample Survey conducted by the Government of India. It is seen that remittance incomes lead to a lower probability of birth in the remittance receiving household while increasing the share of education related expenditures in the household and education investments in each child, which are desirable outcomes for a developing community characterized by high population and low human capital.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Tanu Kohl